Chapter 488: Surrounded
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
A terrifying soul wave directly clashed against Xu Zhong’s mind, causing his body that had been flying swiftly to once again stop.
Mo Wen stepped in the air, and in a few paces, caught up with Xu Zhong. He slashed his sword downwards. His sword Qi was imposing.
Xu Zhong cursed inside. He could not wait to fight Mo Wen to the death. Just now, he was clearly already very cautious, preserving his primordial soul and preventing Mo Wen from once again releasing a soul attack. But he still could not block that frightening soul power’s onslaught.
This was infuriating. It was as though he obviously knew someone was going to do him harm, but he just could not evade it. Also, the person that was harming him was a person whose cultivation was beneath him.
Rip! Xu Zhong could not evade the blow in time. With a slash of the sword Qi, another one of his arms snapped off and dropped to the ground.
Although he was mentally prepared when the second soul attack came, and his reaction was much faster than when he was unprepared, he was still heavily affected. It was just a matter of a split second, but in a battle of experts, a split second mistake was enough to decide the outcome of the match.
Xu Zhong bit down on his teeth. His heart was enraged as he once again ran for his life. He did not believe that Mo Wen could keep releasing soul attacks. That was because it was written in old manuscripts that even for Primordial Soul realm immortal cultivators, releasing soul attacks would expend soul power. It basically could not be maintained for long.
“You can’t run.” Mo Wen’s voice quietly came from behind. Then, a huge roar sounded in Xu Zhong’s mind again. His figure shook and was stunned at his position for a split second.
A beam of sword Qi came slashing down at this moment, cleaving Xu Zhong in front of his chest.
“Ah!” Xu Zhong roared. His eyes were crimson, like a feral beast. He had actually used his Golden Elixir realm body and rich Inner Qi to forcefully block the sword Qi.
The sharp sword Qi actually did not manage to split apart his body. It only left a wound so deep that it reached the bones. Blood and flesh were sent flying. His innards spilled out of his stomach, his intestines hanging out.
“B*stard, even if I die, I will not let you go.” Xu Zhong felt the world turn gray. A sense of despair welled up inside of him. He could not block Mo Wen’s soul attack at all. If he simply tried to run, then he would surely end up dead.
If one was not afraid of death, then naturally they would not fear anything else. Not only did Xu Zhong not try to escape, he even turned back and frantically pounced onto Mo Wen.
Mo Wen’s eyes flashed with a look of surprise. His expression turned slightly serious. A Golden Elixir realm ancient martial art practitioner was very difficult to kill. No matter whether it was their body or cultivation, they were all at a frightening level. Even in this condition, Xu Zhong was still a very big threat. In reality, it was always the injured beasts that were the most frightening.
“Die!” Mo Wen’s eyes flashed with a golden light. He once again unleashed a soul attack, sending it crashing towards Xu Zhong. Xu Zhong’s figure shuddered. As he got closer, another sword Qi came slashing down.
However, whether it was because Xu Zhong’s emotions were too wild, or because Mo Wen had used soul attacks too many times, the power of his attacks was decreasing. This time, the disturbing effect was only a third of the ones before. Xu Zhong’s eyes fell into a trance for a moment, then he recovered right away. In the nick of time, he had actually avoided the slash from the sword.
Bang! Xu Zhong furiously sent out a palm strike, its frenzied power crashing towards Mo Wen. Mo Wen raised his eyebrows and retreated, this time not going head-to-head with Xu Zhong. Right now, Xu Zhong was too frenzied. He hadn’t held back at all with his palm strike and it caused Mo Wen’s blood to churn.
“Brat, if you have balls, don’t run.” Xu Zhong was so enraged, he coughed blood. Mo Wen had actually retreated with the look of a rogue. He had already damaged his vigor, throwing out attacks without any regard for his life. He could not sustain it for long.
“Only a fool would not run. If you have balls, come after me.” Mo Wen laughed. Wasn’t it suicide going head-to-head with a Golden Elixir realm ancient martial art practitioner who was fighting to the death? Golden Elixir realm ancient martial art practitioners were very strong in many aspects. It was too difficult to kill one without using spell talismans.
However, it was also because his current cultivation was too low. If he had later stage Embryonic Breathing realm cultivation, maybe it would be much easier to kill Xu Zhong.
“I’ll slash you.” Mo Wen simply slashed out with his sword. At the same time, he once again unleashed another soul attack. The moment that Xu Zhong’s gaze flickered, the sword Qi instantly appeared in front of him. Once he recovered, he hastily dodged it. However, this slash was too quick. It missed his vital organs, but another bone-deep slash wound appeared on his body.
“As expected of a Golden Elixir realm ancient martial art practitioner. Your body is indeed very strong,” Mo Wen exclaimed.
If it was an Embryonic Breathing realm ancient martial art practitioner, Mo Wen would have long since sliced him in two. However, it was also because he could not use his more powerful techniques as they took time to prepare and were too slow. By the time he got ready, his opponent would have long since regained consciousness. It could not be used together with the soul attack at all.
However, a simple slash from Mo Wen’s sword was also very terrifying. Xu Zhong, a Golden Elixir realm ancient martial art practitioner, had nearly been slashed into pieces by him.
“Brat, I will take you down with me!” Xu Zhong roared frenziedly. He dashed hysterically towards Mo Wen, with a kamikaze look. But Mo Wen did not go head-to-head with him, dodging left and right. When the enemy retreated he advanced and when the enemy advanced he retreated. He thoroughly implemented the style of guerilla tactics.
Xu Zhong was so angry that he coughed up tens of mouths of blood. Despite the words coming out of this mouth, he could not do anything against Mo Wen.
As time continued, Xu Zhong’s aura grew weaker and weaker. His strength was also frantically decreasing. He even found it difficult to maintain being in the air.
“Old thing, don’t struggle. You’d better just die quickly. If you don’t die soon, even I will pity you,” Mo Wen said with a voice full of pity as he waved the Sacred Fire Sword around.
“Ptui…I hate you!” Xu Zhong spat out a mouthful of fresh blood again. He raised his head to the sky and gave a long exclamation. His body twitched twice and then he furiously fell to the ground. He crashed onto the ground with a loud bang.
Mo Wen came down from the sky and stood on the crown of a tree. He looked at Xu Zhong’s corpse from afar, but he did not approach it. He just stood quietly with a depressed look. He looked like a melancholic poet appreciating the scenery of the mountains.
He did not go, and also did not move. Time passed by slowly. 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour…
Suddenly, Xu Zhong, who was lying seemingly dead on the ground, sat up. His eyes were full of hate as he looked at Mo Wen. With his last strength, he roared loudly. “How could you know?”
“Because you are an idiot.” Mo Wen pouted, staring at Xu Zhong as if he was indeed looking at a fool.
“I…” Xu Zhong opened his mouth and pointed at Mo Wen. After saying this one word, his head then dropped to one side. He had completely stopped breathing.
“This is really a tragic tale,” Mo Wen sighed with a melancholic look. He flew above Xu Zhong’s corpse and slashed off his head with a wave of his sword. Then he turned and flew out of the forest.
Before this, Mo Wen had branded Chen Zi with a Spirit Imprint. As long as she wasn’t too far away, Mo Wen could very easily find her.
Fifty miles away from Panli City, Chen Zi stood on top of a rock in the middle of a small pond. She quietly gazed at the blue waters of the pond, remaining motionless for quite some time.
Zou Guangbo was ragged. He knelt beside the pond washing his wounds. He had tens of wounds on his body. Obviously, when they were in the midst of fleeing for their lives, they had encountered a fierce battle. Right now, his face was pale. Clearly, his injuries were substantial. Chen Zi was also injured. Even the Phantom Wolf Cat at her feet was covered in wounds. Clearly, their escape from Panli City had not been easy.
“Young mistress, we should be on our way. Otherwise, those Jianyou Sect ancient martial art practitioners will find their way here,” Zou Guangbo said to Chen Zi as he simply bandaged the wounds on his body and stood up. Although they had escaped the encirclement, they could not stay here. Otherwise, the members of the Jianyou Sect would sooner or later find their way here.
“What about Mo Wen?” Chen Zi had a worried look.
“Young mistress, right now, we can barely protect ourselves. We can’t worry about others. Also, Mo Wen’s cultivation is comparable to the Golden Elixir realm. He won’t necessarily need to fear Xu Zhong. Even if he is not a match for Xu Zhong, he will certainly be able to defend himself. Instead, it should be us, with cultivation that is too low, who should be careful.”
Zou Guangbo laughed bitterly. Only Xu Zhong could be a threat to Mo Wen. All the Embryonic Breathing realm ancient martial art practitioners of the Jianyou Sect in Panli City had left to hunt them down. Comparing the two scenarios, he believed that they were actually in greater danger. Rather than worry about Mo Wen, they should consider themselves first.
“What if he can’t find us?” Chen Zi frowned.
“Right now, he certainly will not be able to. However, you don’t have to worry. He should know that we are headed to Intentionless City. He will certainly choose to meet up with us there.”
Zou Guangbo shook his head. They were already fifty to sixty miles away from Panli City. Along the way, in order to evade the Jianyou Sect’s hunt, they had not left behind any sort of markers at all. It would be almost impossible for Mo Wen to find them. It was only possible for all of them to meet up in the Intentionless City.
“Alright then. We’ll head to Intentionless City first.” Chen Zi sighed. Right now she had no other choice.
She bent over to lift up the Phantom Wolf Cat lying at her feet. She gently stroked the wounds on its body. Her eyes were full of pity. Surprisingly, the Phantom Wolf Cat did not resist Chen Zi, quietly lying in her arms.
Just as they were preparing to once again start their journey and head towards Intentionless City, a scraping sound of footsteps suddenly sounded in the surrounding forest. There seemed to be more and more of them, as though quite a few people were heading over to surround the place.
“Not good. They’ve caught up.” Zou Guangbo’s expression changed drastically. He frantically looked at the forest behind him. His expression was grim. They had just escaped from a group hunting them and now another group had actually caught them up.
“Run!” Zou Guangbo and Chen Zi looked at each other. Without another word, they fled to the other side of the forest.
The Jianyou Sect had numbers on their side. Aside from running, the two of them could not do anything else.
“Humph, trying to escape again? Let’s see where you escape to this time.” A group of people walked out of the forest in front of them. Their leader was a middle-aged man. He had two small mustaches and a nose like an eagle’s beak. He was blind in one eye and wore a black cloth over it.
A group of Jianyou Sect ancient martial art practitioners swarmed in from both in front and behind them. The pincer attack managed to surround both Zou Guangbo and Chen Zi in one swoop.